


come back to me, baby, i'll come back to you

by peterneds



Series: fictober '19 [2]
Category: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Fictober 2019, M/M, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Podfic Welcome, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Reunited and It Feels So Good, Trans Peter Parker, you decide if it's poly trio or not
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-03
Updated: 2019-10-03
Packaged: 2020-11-22 21:38:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20881091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peterneds/pseuds/peterneds
Summary: He holds onto that yet when he can't sleep. Nights when he knows Peter should be in his arms instead of his old flannel. The scent is fading and the warmth left long ago, but Ned sleeps with it still. He holds onto that yet when he visits May, drops off Peter's homework that's gotten four feet tall in his absence. He holds onto it when he sees that small flicker of hope in May's eyes when she opens the door to greet him. It begins to fade after a while. Ned still holds on./title from 'comeback' by the jonas brothers





	come back to me, baby, i'll come back to you

**Author's Note:**

> written for the fictober prompt: "Can you stay?"
> 
> EDIT: hello everyone i completely forgot to say that this fic is a sequel to my other fic "i think that i might break" (i tried to hyperlink it here but it won't show up) it obviously reads fine as a standalone but that's the context i was writing from! sorry again and i hope you enjoy :)

Queens gets a lot rainier after Peter's gone.

At least that's what Ned thinks. It seems a lot less sunny; gloomy, grey clouds fill the skies and the sun rarely pokes through to say hello. Even though he knows the stars are barely visible in the city, he feels as though they left him, too. The moon is never a constant; she peeks in and out of the sky as if she's reminding him of the absence in his heart. That Peter left, but he hasn't come back yet.

(He holds onto that _yet _when he can't sleep. Nights when he knows Peter should be in his arms instead of his old flannel. The scent is fading and the warmth left long ago, but Ned sleeps with it still. He holds onto that _yet _when he visits May, drops off Peter's homework that's gotten four feet tall in his absence. He holds onto it when he sees that small flicker of hope in May's eyes when she opens the door to greet him. It begins to fade after a while. Ned still holds on.) 

There are so many things Peter's missing, Ned thinks. The decathlon team went back to MoMA, and Ned and MJ got to see Picasso and Van Gogh and Frida Kahlo, but Peter never got to see them up close. He keeps texting him, telling him about the book report they're doing in Literature, the dog he saw on the way to his apartment, the trans flag pin he bought at a shop down the street. He bought a new sweater a few weeks back that he knew Peter would've stolen. MJ sits next to him at lunch now. His mother won't stop looking at him with an expression he can't shake when he closes his eyes at night, that her son is hurting but she can't help him. She can't bring him back. And Ned wishes, more than anything, that she could. 

* * *

Ned is in free period when his phone buzzes with a text. He takes it out of his backpack, unlocks it, and as soon as he looks at the message, it falls to the floor. 

Because the text is from _Peter. _

MJ looks at him with wide eyes and creased brows, and Ned can't even get a word out before he begins to cry. He picks his phone back up off the floor with shaky hands and reads the message through clouded eyes. 

_pete: hey, you still have free this time right? come outside_

Ned gasps out a sob. He gets up, his books falling off the desk and onto the floor but it doesn't _matter. _Because Peter is -

He bounds down the halls and teachers shout behind him but he runs on, through the doors and out into the parking lot and he feels like his heart is about to beat out of his chest. He is so _scared_, and he can't find Peter. 

He hears a voice from behind him. 

"Ned! Hey, Ned, I'm right here." 

And _oh. _There he is. 

(Time stops for a minute. There is nothing in this world, in this _galaxy_, but Ned and the boy he loves in his arms. Solid, breathing, and _here_. He rests his head on Peter's shoulder and his scent is there, his warmth is there. He can't feel anything except for Peter's arms around him, can't hear anything except the sound of Peter's heartbeat and his soft huffs of laughter. 

"I missed you so much," Ned sobs into the space between Peter's neck and shoulder. 

Peter squeezes his arms around Ned's waist and kisses his hair. "I missed you," he says. And there is nothing in this moment that could take him away ever again.)

The bell rings and Ned realizes that he technically ditched school, and so he takes Peter's hand and they walk back through the doors together. They find MJ in the halls and she stops dead in her tracks when she sees them. 

"Cut the shit, Ned," she says incredulously as she stares at Peter who looks as if a day hadn't passed since he'd died - or, apparently, just went away - in front of her own eyes.

Peter laughs as he wraps his arm around MJ's waist. She freezes for a moment before she hesitantly rests her hands on Peter's shoulder blades. Then, she exhales what Peter thinks is a sob, and holds him tight. They had gotten closer over the past year - paired for group projects and catching each other at the library during study hall. It grew from that to him, Ned, and MJ hanging out at Peter's apartment, MJ trying to teach them how to make baked goods and in return, making MJ sit through Star Wars with them. MJ calls Peter her friend now. And it hurt, terribly so, to have that part of her taken away. But Peter is_ here_, and she can't believe her eyes. She pinches the back of her hand and feels it. 

"Peter," she says. Her voice breaks and she can't hide it. "How dare you." 

He laughs again and looks at her and it's _there_, that kindness and that joy, brought back, here. "I swear I didn't do it on purpose."

"Fuck off," she says as she bumps his shoulder, and her smile tells him there's no bite in it. Peter knows it means _I missed you. _

* * *

The three of them walk to Peter's apartment, chattering animatedly as they try to catch him up on everything he's missed. 

"All your boyfriend does is send me the weirdest shit at 3 in the morning. Thank God you're back, I can't deal with it anymore," MJ says in a monotone voice with a tired look on her face. 

Ned laughs as he pokes her cheek lightly. "Someone had to get 'em, MJ. Now we have a full archive of memes for Peter!"

"Only the important things, huh?" He says, and his cheeks hurt from how much he's smiling. 

Ned and MJ both laugh. "Of course. You might have missed like, genuinely all of the projects from this year, but you missed more meme culture than anything, babe." 

They all laugh as they're climbing the steps to Peter's floor and he doesn't even realize it before he's face to face with the door bearing his apartment number, and his giggles die down. 

Ned squeezes his hand gently. "You ready for this?" 

"Uh," Peter stutters. He _is_, he is ready to see May, he's more ready than he's ever been in his life, but he can't help the way his chest contracts and how he feels like he can't get in enough oxygen anymore. 

"It'll be okay," MJ offers softly. 

* * *

He can't - he couldn't really tell you anything that happened except for May held him, she held him and didn't let go. 

"Peter," she had said when she opened the door. And Peter can't say anything or do anything that's worthy of how he feels at the sight of her. They're stood in that doorway embracing for so long it would probably seem comical to anyone who passed by, to anyone who didn't understand. Peter doesn't laugh at all. His heart breaks at the wet, shaky breaths he feels from where May's chin is tucked against his shoulder. He knows there's no way to repair the cracks in her heart, the damage he left, knows it'll probably stick with her for the rest of her life, but he thinks he feels a part of her becoming whole again, as she holds him tight and listens to the sound of his breathing. 

She pulls back only slightly, cups Peter's face in her shaking hands and gets a good look at him. And she doesn't understand it - how he looks the same as the day he left. She feels as though she aged a hundred years, gained new worry lines on her forehead and wrinkles around her smile. She wants to know but she doesn't know how to ask, and she's not sure if it matters. She's not sure if she needs to know the how or why or when if it brought Peter back to her. It doesn't matter, she thinks, because her boy is back again, and that's the only thing she needs to be sure of. Except - 

"Ned -" she manages, "Did you see Ned?" 

Peter smiles down at her as Ned opens the door a bit further so May can see him. 

"Oh," she gasps, a new wave of tears springing to her eyes. "And -"

"Hi, Aunt May," MJ says, standing on the other side of Peter with a smile on her face. 

"Oh," she says again and gathers the three of them in her arms. She shakes with her sobs but they're not from anything but relief now. She looks at them with a wobbly smile and says, "You're back." It's not meant for any particular one of them but rather them all, the three pieces of her heart finally coming together. "You're back," she repeats and holds them again. It's all she can do.

* * *

They lay sprawled out together on the too-small couch, sharing laps and tangling their limbs together. Peter is sandwiched between Ned and May while MJ rests her head on May's shoulder and lets her eyes fall closed and takes in all of it. The muted sound of rain hitting the window, the television playing in the background, and the warmth of all of their bodies. 

She doesn't let herself think of anything beyond this - anything that comes in the aftermath of Peter’s return, his responsibilities, or even hers. It fades away like fog and she lets it. 

“Can you stay?” Peter asks softly, voice muffled from the way his face is turned into Ned’s chest. 

“Me, Pete?” May asks as a response. Her voice is even softer, comforting. 

“All of you,” Peter replies and cuddles closer to all of them, reaches out blindly for MJ’s hand and entwines their fingers together. 

MJ rubs her thumb gently along the back of Peter’s hand, lets it serve as her answer. Peter understands - it’s hard for her sometimes. He squeezes her hand in return.

“We’re not going anywhere, baby,” Ned says, as May presses a gentle kiss to his forehead and pushes back his curls. 

“Good,” Peter says, voice barely audible at this point. “I wasn’t gonna let you anyways.”

Their laughs fade away as sleep fades in. He's safe, he thinks as he feels himself drift. He's home. 

**Author's Note:**

> fic 2/3 complete! this was a wip i revamped to fit the prompt that i really liked and i hope you enjoyed too! i will try to whip up another one before the day ends to get caught up 
> 
> tell me what you thought below! i feel like i sort of suck at writing fluff but i tried my best w this one
> 
> love you all <3 prompts are always welcome & encouraged! here's where to find me  
hcllnd on twit & tumblr  
ree182 on spotify for interwebs playlist


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